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Open Images

Open Images is an open media platform that offers online access to audiovisual archive material to stimulate creative reuse. Footage from audiovisual collections can be downloaded and remixed into new works. Users of Open Images also have the opportunity to add their own material to the platform and thus expand the collection. Open Images also provides an API, making it easy to develop mashups.

Access to the material on Open Images is provided under the Creative Commons licensing model. Creative Commons gives authors, artists, scientists and teachers the freedom to approach their copyright in a more flexible manner and make their work available in a way they can choose themselves.

The ‘open’ nature of the platform is underscored by the use of open video formats (Ogg Theora), open standards (HTML5, OAI-PMH) and open source software components. Furthermore, all software that is developed within the scope of Open Images will also be released under the GNU General Public License.

Open Images is an initiative of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision in collaboration with Knowledgeland. By the end of 2009 Open Images offered access to over 450 Polygoon items from the Sound and Vision archives. The collection will grow substantially over the coming years; as new items will be uploaded continuously.

Everybody is more than welcome to add material to the platform – not only collection institutes and producers, but all netizens creating new materials based on Open Images fragments and items from other open repositories.